By ANDREA POTEET
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – Officers applied a Taser to a 20-year-old Riverview man March 30 after he allegedly robbed a convenience store and assaulted a cab driver hours after his release from Wayne County Jail.

The man, 20-year-old Michael Grondnoky, was arraigned Monday in Wyandotte’s 27th District Court on four felony charges.

According to a police report, about 1:30 a.m. that day, officers responded to Circle K, 540 Goddard, on a report that it was being robbed. When they arrived, a woman flagged them down and turned their attention to a taxi cab in the parking lot.

Inside, Grondnoky was seated in the backseat, punching the taxi driver who had driven him to the store. Police Chief Daniel Grant said he had likely realized that his passenger had just robbed the store of an unreleased amount of money.

“Once (the driver) realized what was going on, that’s when the argument ensued,” Grant said. “He figured ‘I’m not gonna be part of this,’ knowing what he’d done.”

The officer drew his gun and approached the car and Grodnoky eventually exited and officers took him to the ground. He struggled when officers attempted to handcuffed him and a Taser was applied. After he was handcuffed he continued to struggle and was sprayed with pepper spray.

Strewn around the area was an unknown amount of cash, lottery tickets and a black semi automatic handgun as well as a black mask and a Wayne County Jail release form from the night prior with the Grodnoky’s name on it.

The witness who flagged police down told them she was walking out of the store when she saw the man, wearing a mask, approach her. She ran to her car and parked behind the taxi. Minutes later, she saw the man run to the cab and get in the backseat.

Grondnoky was charged with armed robbery, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, assault with a dangerous weapon, and resisting, obstructing or assaulting a police officer.